


Death by Poison

by Warflower



Series: Cain´s modern murder mysteries [7]
Category: Cain Saga and Godchild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cain POV, Character Death, Gen, M/M, Mentions of child abuse/poison/murder and suicide, Murder Mystery, Reasons not to cross Cain, This story does not contain original characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 16:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10745070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warflower/pseuds/Warflower
Summary: Cleo Dreyfus is dead.And Cain is angry.





	Death by Poison

**Author's Note:**

> Finally I got to write Cain and his poisons, I have been looking forward to this.  
> Mind the summary and enjoy.

-Which poison causes tingling and numbness in mouth, abdomen and limbs? – 

 

Cain almost dropped his phone.

Then he raced to the police stations front desk. 

-Can you call Detective Chief Inspector Landor from Belgravia for me? - he gasped -It is an emergency. –

The woman manning the desk eyed him suspiciously. 

Fuck it, Cain thought, he had his own phone with which he called the Detective himself. 

-Landor. – He was greeted -Who am I speaking to? -. 

-It´s Cain, this is an emergency! – 

-Cain Hargreaves? – Landor asked. 

-No, Cain Miller. – He really had no time for this -Of course Cain Hargreaves. – 

Seriously, how many people called Cain could possibly have Landor´s phone number, the name wasn´t that common. 

-Sorry Cain, - Cain foot was tapping impatiently, -I should really save your number. –

-Yes, you should- He agreed. -But that is of no concern now, get someone to the Dreyfus´ townhouse immediately- He named the address -And get an ambulance, someone has been poisoned. –

He didn´t expect them to be on time, Cleo´s text was hours old, and the poison acted fast, yet accepting a reality was hard, when hope was much more pleasant an option. 

Thankfully Landor didn´t waste any more time and complied, Cain heard him barking out orders to call the colleagues in Kensington. 

Still on the phone with Landor, Cain made for the train station. It was just around the corner and down the street, easy to reach on foot. No way that he would drive out to Monkton Farleigh again to fetch his overnight bag, he had to go home right now. 

Turned out he was lucky, the next train to London was just announced. He quickly bought a ticket and boarded the train as soon as it pulled into the station. It wouldn´t leave for ten minutes at least. 

-Was that all? – Cain asked Landor. 

-Yes, - he assented -I assume you´re going to call again in a matter of minutes if I don´t tell you about the state of your friend? – 

-Quite- Cain didn´t bother to deny it. -So, I´ll hear from you as soon as you have new information. –

Landor sighed, defeated. 

Fuck, Cain thought, don´t let yourself hope, anything but that. 

Cain knew two poisons that caused tingling in the limbs and abdomen, only one that also affected the mouth. Both were deadly in a matter of minutes, Cain sincerely hoped it was Poison Hemlock, although it was most likely Aconitum, both were painful, both were fatal, but at least you could prove Hemlock poisoning, Aconitum just looked like asphyxiation. 

He shook his head. No use dwelling on details, he had to inform Riff he was coming home early. His hands shook as he pulled out his phone. 

If only he had picked up when Cleo called, if only he had read his text earlier. But no, Cain was busy solving murders. What good was solving one murder if he was unable to prevent another. 

He dialled home. Riff picked up immediately. 

-Hey- Cain said. -I´m coming home- 

-When? – Riff asked. He was pragmatic as always, it was grounding. 

Cain ran a hand through his hair -I´m on the train already…- 

-Has something happened? – Cain chuckled at the understatement. 

-With Elsie or with Cleo? – Riff inquired. 

Cain wanted to sob, -Both- he admitted. 

If Riff ever cursed, Cain thought, he would do so now -Do you need to talk? –

-Not now- Cain sighed -I´m waiting for Landor to call me back. – 

Riff nodded, Cain knew -Then I´m picking you up when you get here, okay? – 

-Yeah- Cain forced a smile -Thanks. –

 

When Cain climbed off the train hours later his legs were shaking, Landor had indeed called back, only minutes later, Cain had expected it, but it was still a blow. Cleo was gone. 

He looked around, even this late at night, there were still people in Paddington station. A weight was lifted of his chest as he spotted Riff, but the relief didn´t last, Riff was accompanied by none other than his uncle Neil, no doubt intent on scolding Cain for god-knows-what-this-time.

Well if his uncle thought he would get any sort of enthusiastic greeting he could forget it. Exhausted from the stress and the travel he stumbled into Riff´s chest. 

-Hey- he mumbled into the fabric of Riff´s shirt as his arms snaked around the man´s middle. He needed a hug. 

-Hey- Riff breathed into his hair, returning the hug and pulling him tighter. 

They remained thus, until his uncle, unable to watch more than thirty seconds of any kind of PDA, cleared his throat. 

Cain turned his head to face his uncle, but didn´t let go of Riff. -What is it? – 

His uncle straightened his tie. -It has come to my attention that you lost a friend, and- he drew a deep breath -I wanted to let you know, that I am there for you. – 

Cain blinked, that was unexpected. 

Clearly his uncle felt offended by his evident surprise, so he added -As is expected of family. – 

-Thanks- Cain told him, he appreciated the effort, he really did, but he was less than enthusiastic about talking about, well anything really, with his uncle. 

-Apropos family- Cain asked, -Where is Merry? -

-Home- explained Riff -We didn´t tell her, yet. Right now, you are the priority- 

Cain looked up, brows pulling together.

-Don´t worry- Riff told him, clearly reading his thoughts -I´ll be the one who tells her. – 

Cain nodded. 

-Let´s go home- His uncle suggested. 

 

The ride home set Cain on edge. Apparently, his uncle was serious about this familiar-support thing, as he kept trying to get Cain to talk about his feelings, he clenched his fists. 

He didn´t need uncle Neil´s amateur psychology session, he just needed Orlando to be arrested soon. And some sleep. 

Of cause his uncle noticed Cain´s missing bag, so his monologue on `Talk about what bothers you` gained a heaping of ´be more responsible, than you wouldn´t get into all this trouble´. 

There was literally nothing that Cain could have done to get out of the trouble of losing Cleo.

Except answer his phone, or read his texts, or go home when he learned Cleo was sick, he really had all the reasons to be suspicious over an apparent fever, at least he could have told Riff to check on Cleo, periodically. He shouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

He gulped down his irritation. It was a long car ride. 

 

Cain spent the night restless, his uncle had insisted he needed to consult Riff on something concerning the household budget, which let to Cain sleeping alone in Riff´s bed, plagued by bad dreams. 

So, the first thing Cain did after breakfast was grab his bike and pay a visit to the police station in Belgravia. 

On the way, he fell once due to iced over streets and to make matters worse he was greeted by the sight of Detective Constable Burgess when he arrived. 

-You again? – Obviously, Burgess was not in the best of moods. 

-Yes, me again- Cain inspected his hands, they still hurt from the fall, but thankfully his gloves had prevented any scrapes. 

-Have you got any information on the death of Cleo Dreyfus, yet? – Cain asked -DCI Landor promised to keep me updated. – That was not entirely true, he said he´d try to inform Cain if anything important happened, but right know he didn´t bother with the distinction. 

-Nothing important- Burgess shrugged, -Seems like an asthma attack, couldn´t reach his inhaler and the brother was spending the night with a girlfriend. Sure, it´s a pity, but these things happen. - 

Asthma attack? -Cleo didn´t have asthma- Cain accursed. 

-You sure of that, kid? – Burgess asked. 

Cain rolled his eyes. -I guess he would have mentioned it at some point. – Burgess snorted.

-Anyways, you are discarding important evidence. – Cain continued pulled himself up to his full, less than impressive, height, Burgess cocked an eyebrow -He literally send me a text describing the symptoms of a poison, which looks after death like the person died of asphyxia. – 

\- Ah, right, Landor said you´re some kind of hobby-toxicologist. And you think there is poison involved. – Burgess sounded like he was talking to a child -Aconitum am I right? – 

-Yes- Cain confirmed. 

-And if I remember correctly the symptoms include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, motor weakness and uneven heart rhythm on top of your tingling. Yet in your text there is no mention of any of these much more obvious symptoms- 

Burgess was apparently able to use Wikipedia.

-He was having a fever- Cain exclaimed, exasperated – he probably thought those were part of that. –

-Exactly- Burgess nodded as if Cain had just proven his point -he had a fever and was probably delirious, so he feels a little weird, imagines some tingling and texts you, because you filled his head with stories of poison, probably worked himself up with worry over nothing and couldn´t reach his inhaler when he inevitably had an attack-. 

Burgess looked smug, like he had just accomplished some great feat of detective work. Not only was the man discarding both his expertise and the evidence he supplied, now he was accusing Cain of indirectly murdering his best friend. He wanted to punch him. 

-At least get an autopsy- Cain pleaded, -His brother has been mistreating him for years, he can´t get away with this- 

-Sure- Burgess replied dismissively, as he inspected his fingernails, clearly wanting to get rid of him. 

As there is nothing to be done about Burgess idiocy, Cain gave up for the moment, hoping he´d get to talk to Landor the next time. 

 

Merry ´s reaction to the news was as expected. When Cain came back from the police station she was in her room, crying. He really should have been the one breaking it to Merry, or at least he should have been there. Another should-have that was too late to change now.

She was lying on her bed, one of her Teddy-bears clutched to her chest. Cain gulped, she had three of them, one for each time that Cain made her angry, all acquired in little more than two weeks. He sat down next to her. 

-How are you? – He asked, gently stroking her hair. 

She looked up, her big blue eyes were red-rimmed from crying. 

-Sad- she said eventually. 

-Me too- Cain agreed. 

-He was so nice- 

Here, too, Cain could only agree -And kind, and clever- he added. 

-Yes- Merry let go of her Teddy in favour of using Cain´s leg as a pillow. 

-Aren´t you crying? – she sniffed -I feel like crying forever- 

Cain forced a smile as he looked down to her. 

-I feel the same way- he said -I´m just bad at crying. –

Merry ´s smile was weak and wobbly -Nobody is bad at crying. –

-I am- Cain insisted. – I stopped crying when I was twelve- he started to explain, quickly reminding himself to go with the official version -Dad and I moved to America, and I had to say goodbye to all of my friends and my family and Riff and I never was so sad before in my life- 

Merry nodded, listening with rapt attention. Including Riff in the list was what made it believable, Cain knew -and I thought, I´m never ever going to be so sad again, so I cried a lot, until I didn´t feel sad anymore, I felt only numb. So now, whenever I feel sad I don´t cry, - he wrapped the tips of her hair around his fingers -I just go numb. – Or angry, but that was nothing Merry needed to know right now. 

 

The results of the autopsy were disappointing. Even more disappointing was that he was once again faced with the walking well of incompetence that was DC Burgess. 

-Why the fuck are you always bothering us? - Burgess asked -Don’t you have your own station over in Knightsbridge? – 

As a matter of fact, they did, but Cain didn´t know that the first time he contacted Landor, too many years spent living in Ealing, he had just assumed that Belgravia was nearby and gone there; it was flashier anyways. Nowadays he came for the bonus of knowing DCI Landor. 

Cain gave him a long stare -Yes, I should probably go there. Their DCs are certainly smarter, but that´s not a high bar to clear… - 

Burgess was bristling, yet he tried to remain professional, at least outwardly -You want the results of the autopsy? – 

Cain nodded, biting back some scathing comment. 

-Well, your friend died of asphyxiation, no trace of aconitum- 

Cain rolled his eyes, aconitum wasn´t traceable. 

-Only drug in his system was some belladonna, but the dose was nowhere near deadly, probably from some ill-conceived attempt at giving him painkillers, - 

Cain´s eyebrows rose in epiphany, logically Burgess ignored this, droning on instead. 

-No signs of physical abuse in the recent past, so much for that theory of yours. – From his expression, he almost seemed to pity Cain, almost, the hint of malice in his eyes betrayed his glee. 

-Overall, his brother miscalculated the severity of his fever, but the boy was almost eighteen, he should have been able to look after himself for a couple of hours. Or at least call an ambulance… –

Cain clenched his fists, he seemed to be doing that a lot, lately. 

-What you´re saying is- Cain inquired -that Orlando will go free? – 

Burgess shrugged -Well, there´s no proof to incriminate him. – 

-But he has a motive, he was about to be disinherited! - 

-So? – Burgess asked.

Cain shook his head, disbelieving. 

-Can I talk to DCI Landor about this? – 

-Sorry- Burgess lips curled into a smirk -he´s busy investigating a real murder. – 

 

What an asshole Cain thought as he slammed the door to his study. 

Somebody, (Cleo, sweet Cleo,) was murdered and Burgess refused to see it. That man ought to be fired. 

He opened the Cabinet with his poisons, and lined them up on his desk. 

Belladonna, deadly, one leaf or five berries, induces high fever, including hallucinations, dilated pupils and a flushed face. The dose in the berry tea had obviously not been lethal, only meant to give Orlando plausible deniability once he administered the wolfbane.

Wolfbane, also known as Aconitum, the Queen of Poisons. The victims die of heart failure, yet the apparent cause of death is asphyxiation. One leaf is deadly, and easily brewed into tea. Cain wanted to hit himself, Cleo had been sipping the poison that would kill him while they were skyping.

The inhaler was a nice touch, he had to admit, the blue inhalers were sold above counter since 2012, nobody could check if it was purchased by Orlando or by Cleo, he only needed to buy it ahead of time and empty it partially. 

His timeframe was long set of course. Cleo would have turned eighteen this week and officially inherited all of their dead parent´s money. Orlando would have been disinherited. 

Cain is of half a mind to drop by the Dreyfus house on Cleo´s birthday. Celebrate with Orlando and feed him with almond muffins dusted with cyanide. He eyes the bottle. 

Orlando would deserve it. He would deserve worse for all the years of fear and abuse he put Cleo through. 

So, what if Cleo showed no signs of physical violence. Beat a child every night and it might choose to beat back, a grim smirk spread across Cain´s face, but beat a child only now and then, when it displeases you and it might get the idea that obedience would assure its safety. Emotional abuse was apparently neglected altogether.

Which of these applied to Cleo was obvious. As long as Orlando kept himself together the weeks before he struck no physical abuse could be proven. 

Cyanide might be too nice, Cain thought, it acted almost immediately after all. 

Maybe a few drops of Dimethyl mercury, month of knowing his fate, yet unable to escape it, or some sap of the Machineel tree, which was known, after all, to strip the paint off of cars. 

Cain shook his head; Orlando Dreyfus would pay. He chose a bottle and smiled, if Orlando was such good friends with the queen of poisons, maybe Cain should introduce him to the king. 

 

The Dreyfus´ house in Kensington was not smaller than that of the Hargreaves family. It stood just a minute away from Earl´s court station. Cain climbed up the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell. 

Unsurprisingly it was Orlando who answered -Hello? – 

Orlando was a young man in his mid to late twenties, he had the same blond hair as Cleo, yet he was taller and broader than his brother. 

-Hello- Cain said and added, in a heartfelt sounding voice -I´m so sorry for your loss. – 

Orlando nodded, the mask of the grieving brother quickly sliding in place. 

-I´m a friend of your brother, and... – he paused -I don´t know how to say this, but he borrowed some of my books, could I, maybe, have them back? – 

That part was true, him and Cleo had frequently exchanged books, now they presented a decent excuse. 

-Which books? – Orlando asked, glad the condolences were over and done with. 

Cain named seven, two of which Cleo hadn´t borrowed at all. 

-Wait a minute- Orlando left Cain at the open door and ascended the stairs. 

He didn´t have much time, so he quickly slipped inside the foyer, right next to the door, where the rack with the keys was. 

Cain smiled, Cleo had obviously arranged them, Orlando wouldn´t have bothered labelling them. He took the key labelled ´back door´ for the servants´ entrance and slipped it into his pocket. 

Only a minute passed and Orlando returned, holding three of Cain´s books. 

-I couldn´t find the rest, - he apologized -Sorry-.

-May I look for myself? – Cain inquired, keeping his tone unassuming and polite. 

-Sure- Orlando led him up the stairs, in passing Cain noted the position of the stairs that went down, on the first floor, they passed the master bedroom, Orlando´s Cain concluded, it wouldn´t stand empty. 

Cleo´s room was on the second floor, similar to Cain´s. It was clean and spacious, a whole wall covered in bookshelves. Cain wished he´d seen it while it was still inhabited, it so clearly belonged to Cleo, the big bed looked perfect for watching movies. 

He felt like crying, so he faked a sob to get some space. Unfortunately, Orlando didn´t leave, he stood in the doorway and watched, possibly contemplating whether he should talk about Cleo for his grieving act. 

As Cain had already seen what he came here to see he didn´t prolong his stay to find out. 

Mind carefully blank he searched for the rest of his books, arranged them that the titles faced away from Orlando and schooled his face into an expression of distress at the room´s reminder of Cleo´s death. He thanked the man for his time and left quickly. 

 

-Caaiin, - Oscar whined -Come on- 

-Oscar, for the third time, no- 

Today Cleo´s body had been released to the funeral home, he would be buried on his birthday, a miserable prospect. So, Oscar, who else, had suggested that him, Cain, Percy Jordan and Emmeline Rotterdale could go out to drink ´in celebration of Cleo´. 

Even though the idea was primarily meant to cheer Cain up, it was needless to say he wasn´t interested. 

-It won´t be half as fun without you- Oscar pleaded. 

-Drowning our sorrows won´t be fun anyways- Cain made himself smile, consolingly. -Don´t worry about me, I´ve got Riff and Merry, I´m okay- 

-I know that- Oscar clapped both hands onto Cain´s shoulders, gently shaking him for emphasis -But you´ve got me too. I´m your friend, and future brother-in-law, it is my job do distract you- 

Cain smiled, this one was at least halfway genuine. -How about this, you go out drinking without me today and I help you with that pub quiz next month? And put in a good word for you with Merry, so that brother-in-law thing works out. – 

-You would? – Oscar beamed, he had been going on about that pub quiz on and off for a while, always complaining that Cain was his only ´smart friend´. If it got him of Cain´s back now, he was happy to help. Especially if Oscar insured Orlando wouldn´t be home for the night. 

Cain nodded, in his mind already figuring out just how much Arsenic he would need for Orlando.

 

The tube around midnight was hardly empty, yet Cain was lucky to be the only person sat in the last wagon. 

He was dressed in blacks and dark greys, nothing really unusual there, but today it was for a reason other than fashion sense. His scarf would later cover the lower half of his face. 

He checked the knife was in his left pocket and pulled out his wig from the right, it was the short blond one, not the long one he had stolen the evening he first met Cleo, he had considered wearing that one, out of sentimentality, but decided against it, as a woman he would undoubtedly attract more attention than as a man. 

He left the underground at Earl´s court station, reassuring himself, that he wore gloves to prevent fingerprints and that the scarf was wrapped tightly around his face, for the cameras at the station. 

He waited until no one was looking and climbed into the Dreyfus´ back garden, after that, breaking in was easy. After all, he had the key. 

First things first he thought as he quietly ascended the stairs. 

As expected the master bedroom was not locked. Why would it be, Orlando was the only person currently occupying the house. 

He found Orlando´s laptop on a desk in a corner and opened it. 

Now the password he thought. He checked all the common ones, if anybody was stupid enough to use ´password´, then a buffoon like Orlando, his surprising talent at obscuring a murder notwithstanding. 

It wasn´t his birthday, and it wasn´t ´password´, it was a combination of both. Cain felt like laughing. 

Quickly he pulled up Orlando´s writing programme. He started writing: 

-I have made a terrible mistake… -

 

Cain checked his watch as he looked down on his work, quarter to one, Oscar´s pub crawls always lasted until half past two, at least. 

He decided this would do, and clicked save. He returned the computer to standby mode, note with the full confession open for those who would check it.

Now for the poison. 

The kitchen was easy to find, but searching the bread took some time, he had originally considered putting the poison into the cup of his toothbrush, so he would down it after brushing his teeth, but once he had decided on arsenic that was out of the question. 

While 1,5gram of it might kill a man of a hundred kilogram, that was an amount that would be visible if placed in an empty cup; no, the poison had to remain invisible until it was safely swallowed. 

So, the bread it was. Cain gripped the first slice and pulled the slim knife from his pocket. One straight cut piercing neither upper nor lower side of the slice, then he pulled out the poison. The arsenic was measured to be fatal for a man heavier than Orlando, just to be on the save side. With a spatula, he pushed it into the cut. 

This would serve Orlando right, drinking to congratulate himself for getting away with murder, followed by death for breakfast. And all the evidence would be eaten. 

Cain smiled, done.

He left through the front door, after he put the key back to where it came from and pulled of the wig in the bathroom of the tube station. Murder, it turned out was easier than expected. 

 

When he got home he was awaited by Riff. 

Cain took off coat and gloves and headed up the stairs, passing by his own room up to where Riff lived in the attic. 

-I take you didn´t join Oscar on his pub crawl- Riff stated, he didn´t need to ask. 

-You know where I was- Cain quickly divested himself of his clothes. 

-I do- Riff was watching him, contemplating. 

Cain let himself fall onto the bed he cocked a smile -I was right here, for the entire night- 

Riff hummed 

–If anyone asks, that is- He joined Cain beneath the covers, 

-Just tell me the next time- Riff murmured. 

 

Two days later DCI Landor called Cain, apparently, Orlando Dreyfus had committed suicide, the cleaning lady had found him.

Where he had gotten the arsenic, nobody could say, but in his suicide note, which was found on his computer, he had confessed to murdering his younger brother Cleo to prevent his own disinheritance, even going so far as explaining just how he had done it. 

Cain smiled -So… I was right, and Burgess was wrong-

-Yes, - Landor admitted, -It appears you were right. -

Cain decided to push a little further -So, considering my expertise, did you finally save my number? – 

Landor laughed -I did, three cases in two months, I better get used to you being involved-

-That you should- Cain agreed. 

 

-This wasn´t self-defence- Riff states.

-I know- Cain replies.

He is getting ready for the funeral, dressing up in his finest black suit. 

After a moment, Riff continues -And you know vengeance is not justice? - 

-I do- Cain makes himself smile -But justice was not being done, so I took the next best thing- 

Cain watches Riff´s hands as he straightens his tie -And what about grief? – He asks.

-I´m not good at grief-

-That’s what you told Merry- 

-Well it´s true- Cain looks up -Maybe I should work on that. - 

-Maybe-


End file.
